DOLLAR RECOVERS LOST GROUND ON HAWKISH COMMENTS FROM FED OFFICIALS

Published on Jun 26, 2024 11:29

The US dollar ticked slightly higher on Wednesday morning in Asia on the back of hawkish comments from Federal officials. Federal Reserve (Fed) Governors Michelle Bowman and Lisa Cook on Tuesday suggested that the central bank is unlikely to kick start its rate-cutting cycle anytime soon amid a resilient US economy. Investors now focus on Thursday`s release of the final US Q1 GDP print and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) for further cues. Uptick in US benchmark treasury yields at 4.26% are supporting dollar index at 105.36, up 0.09% on the day. Markets also braced for the first US presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump on Thursday. The uptrend in the US dollar is likely to stay with large currency market speculators in the US dollar futures adding sharply to their net long positions. The non-commercial futures contracts of US dollar index futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 17,595 contracts in the data reported through June 18, 2024, to its highest level since December 2023. Among basket currencies, EURUSD and GBPUSD were quoting at $1.0745 and $1.2692 respectively, both lower by around 0.1% on the day.